


I Will Find My Way, I Can Go the Distance

by SariSpy56



Category: A Goofy Movie (1995), Animaniacs, Disney - All Media Types, Hercules (1997), Looney Tunes | Merrie Melodies
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hercules (1997), Alternate Universe - Hercules (1997) Fusion, Gen, Happy Ending, Love Story, M/M, a shipping story, alternate universe with some tweaks here and there, for all you guys that shipped Yakko and Max, norita is not a kind god, obligatory max/yakko story, some scenes of abuse, this one's for you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29912736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SariSpy56/pseuds/SariSpy56
Summary: "In fourteen years precisely, the planets will align ever so nicely...""The time to act will be at hand - unleash the Titans, your monstrous band...""Then the once-proud Goof will finally fall, and you, Norita, will rule all!""Yeah, this is great and all, there is one little detail you should know about... should Maxcules fight, you will fail."That was fourteen years ago when the Fates told Norita, goddess of the underworld, her future. Fourteen years ago when she went to great lengths to have the son of Goof taken care of so that the prophecy could go accordingly.Now, a young Max embarks on a journey to find his place in life, all while using his superhuman strength to fight off the forces of evil in the world. But little did he know that he will discover something about himself far greater than he initially thought.
Relationships: Dot Warner & Wakko Warner & Yakko Warner, Max Goof/Yakko Warner
Comments: 17
Kudos: 41





	1. A Star Is Born

**Author's Note:**

> So a couple days earlier, I was listening to "I Won't Say (I'm In Love)" while doing some artwork when all of a sudden... an idea came into my mind - I'm making a Hercules AU fanfic starring Yakko and Max. Consider this my obligatory Max/Yakko shipping fanfic.
> 
> And as far as I'm concerned about the pairing in general... it's cute. Not one of my OTPs yet, but we'll see how that goes in the future.

" _Though, honey it may seem impossible, that's the gospel truth!"_ \- The Gospel True/Main Title, Hercules

Long ago, in the faraway land of Ancient Greece, there was a golden age of powerful gods and extraordinary heroes. And the greatest and strongest of all these heroes was the mighty Maxcules.

But what is the measure of a true hero?

Ah, but before we can get to that story, I must tell you _this_ story.

Many eons ago, four gigantic monsters known as the Titans ran amok across the world; Lythos, a two-headed Titan made out of rock, Hydros, a skeletal Titan made out of ice, Pyros, a blob-like Titan made out of lava, and Statos, a Titan who was literally a tornado. They would bring chaos and destruction whenever they go; earthquakes, blizzards, volcanoes, hurricanes, anything that would strike fear on the hearts of mortals. They ruled the earth …

… but then along came Goof, toon god of the sky and thunder, and king of Mt. Olympus.

He defeated the Titans with his mighty thunderbolt, and locked the monsters away beneath the deep seas, never to be released. With the Titans locked away, Goof tamed the world while still in his youth. Life on Mt. Olympus was neat, and smooth as sweet vermouth. He then married the love of his life, Sylvia – toon goddess of education, and ruled Mt. Olympus together in harmony.

Years later, Goof and Sylvia had a cute baby boy whom they named Maxcules. He looked so much like his father - a toon dog with fur as black as night, droopy ears, might grow an external pair of teeth in due time, but he has his mother’s beautiful dark-green eyes. A silver-blue aura shimmered around the baby, and it shined like a magnificent diamond – one of the most important traits of a god. A huge party was being held at Goof’s palace to celebrate Maxcules’ birth, and all the gods at Mt. Olympus were invited – a majority of them being toons. They’ve come to congratulate Goof and Sylvia, and shower the baby with gifts.

Maxcules happily giggled as Sylvia gently held him in her arms. He then became fascinated by her sparkly tiara. He reached up and grabbed it from her head as Sylvia chuckled lightly. “Behave yourself.” she whispered quietly as she created a crib from the clouds and gently set Maxcules in it.

“Gwarsh, look how cute he is!” Goof looked into the crib in awe, wiggling a finger under Maxcules’ chin who giggled even more. The baby reached for Goof’s finger, intending to pull it. With a simple pull, Maxcules lifted Goof off the ground and above his head. Goof giggled. “He’s as strong as his old man.”

He got back on the ground, and turned to the crowd of gods. “Oh behalf of my son, Sylvia and I would like to thank you all for your wonderful gifts!”

“What about our gift, dear?” Sylvia asked softly.

“Hmm, now let me see here…” Goof pondered for a moment before taking notice of some small clouds hovering towards him. He reached out to take some parts of the clouds, and started creating something out of them. He fitted them together, giving them form “… a little cirrus, a touch of nimbostratus, a dash of cumulus. This should do it!”

Maxcules watched as Goof blew the clouds away to reveal a baby chicken resting in the palm of his hands. The baby chicken woke up and was seeing eye-to-eye with Maxcules, making small clucking sounds.

“His name is Chicken Boo, and he’s all yours, Max,” Goof told him, gently setting the baby chicken next to Maxcules in the crib. He felt content as he watched Maxcules giving Chicken Boo a gentle head-butt who responded by cuddling up to him. Maxcules smiled as he hugged the chicken like a teddy bear, before sleep overtook the duo. Goof placed a soft, tiny blanket on top of the duo, and kiss Maxcules on the forehead.

“Well isn’t that cute? It almost made me want to throw up.” A cold, snarky female voice was heard over the celebration. Standing at the entrance was Norita, human goddess of the underworld. She made her way through the gods who simply glared at her. She left a trail of small flames, as she slowly approached Goof and Sylvia with a stone-cold expression.

“Norita, you finally made it!” Goof, unlike the rest of the partygoers, welcomed Norita with open arms. He pulled her into a tight one-armed hug. “So how are things in the underworld?”

Norita nonchalantly removed Goof’s arm from her shoulders, and shrugged half-heartedly. “Well everything’s fine as usual – still dark and gloomy, and full of dead people. What do you expect?”

Her eyes went to the crib, where Maxcules and Chicken Boo are sleeping. She pushed Goof aside, and made her way towards it. “Ah, there’s the little starlight!”

She reached out toward the sleeping Max, but just as she was getting closer, Chicken Boo’s eyes went open as if his instincts were kicking in. Before Norita could register what was happening, she found herself being pecked repeatedly by an angry Chicken Boo who, despite his small size, was flying around her at a pace so fast that she could barely hit him. She screamed as she repeatedly tried to shoo Chicken Boo off of her. “Get that chicken off of me!”

Goof immediately rushed to her rescue, and grabbed Chicken Boo. He placed the angry chicken back in the crib with Maxcules. “Gwarsh, sorry about Chicken Boo.”

“You’re lucky he isn’t here with me right now.” She brushed some of Chicken Boo’s feathers off of her. “Otherwise, I’d make him _eat_ that chicken... alive.”

She let out a small chuckle. “He has an appetite that is the size of Gladstone’s inflated ego.” To illustrate her point, she saw a goose decked in a rich yellow and green toga, and a lot of jewelry making kissing noises as he admire his reflection in his handheld mirror.

“Aww, don’t be such a stiff, Norita” Goof said, pulling Norita back into a hug. “Join the celebration!”

“Sorry, but unlike _you_ gods lounging about up here, I unfortunately have a full-time job down there that you, by the way, so charitably bestowed upon me, _Goof._ ” She broke free from Goof’s hug yet again with ease, and turned to leave, eyes cold. “Love to, but _can’t_.”

“Gwarsh, you oughta slow down, Norita, or you’ll work yourself to death.” There was a brief moment of silence before Goof realized what he had just said. He broke out in a fit of laughter. “A-hyuck! Worked yourself to death!”

He continued to laugh at his own joke and soon, the rest the gods joined in. He was too busy laughing to notice a bitter Norita rolling her eyes as she silently make her exit.

Norita returned to the underworld, land of the dead. Unlike the other gods, she was a mean and ruthless goddess - well known for her tough, no-nonsense demeanor, and having a fiery temper that would often erupt like a volcano when things don’t go her way. Out of all the gods, she was the one who was most feared by the mortals – nobody wanted to get on her bad side.

It was jarring to see how someone as joyful as Goof would want to be friends with someone as cold as Norita.

Norita finally made it to the other side of the river of death – her palace. She got off the boat without saying a ‘thank-you’ to the skeleton driver, and just as she was about to take the first steps on a long and towering staircase…

_“HELLO BOSS LADY!”_

Norita almost had a heart attack when two young toons, no older than 14, appeared from behind her. Both of them have black fur with bright-red noses, and cream-white face fur. Unlike Goof and Max who are clearly toon dogs, it was unclear what kind of animals these two toons are supposed to be. They were dog-like, but they have the ears of a rabbit, and the tails of a cat.

The eldest of the two, a tall boy, wore a smoky- topaz (not tan) kilt that reached up to his waist, and it was a big too big for his think frame so he wore a large black belt to keep his kilt from falling off. The younger of the two, a small girl, wore a simple pink toga and a yellow flower hairband that tied her long ears together.

“Did you miss us?”

“How’s the party up there?”

“Did you bring some food for Wakko?”

“How’s Goof doing up there?”

Norita was suffocating from all those questions, as well as having two toons circling around her like flies. She violent grabbed both of them by the ears, lifting them off the ground. “Yakko! Dot! Please give me some room to _breathe_ for five minutes!” She checked her surroundings and asked, “Where’s Wakko?”

Dot shrugged. “Went to the river of death to try and find our parents again.”

True to Dot’s words, emerging from the river of death was a seemingly younger version of Yakko, only this toon wore a baby blue tunic and, unusual for the time period, a red baseball cap.

“Any luck, Wakko?” Yakko asked.

Wakko shook his head sadly, shaking the water off of him like a dog. “Couldn’t find them. Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow.”

“Toons…” Norita sneered, dropping Yakko and Dot to the ground. She turned to the stairs. “I’ll be in my office, so let me know the _instant_ the Fate arrives.”

“Uhh……. they’re already here.” Yakko sheepishly informed her before turning to Wakko and Dot, and whispered to them, “Get behind me, sibs.”

“ _WHAT?! THE FATES ARE HERE AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?!”_

“Well how are we supposed to get in contact with you, Boss Lady?” Yakko wasn’t afraid of Norita’s wrath, unlike his two younger siblings who are currently hiding behind him. Not even the fact that she burst into flames when she exploded at him. “They don’t have phones in Ancient Greece, y’know.”

_Deep breaths, Norita… deep breaths. They’re just kids._ Norita was trying very hard to restrain herself from snapping at the three toons again.

She turned back to the stairs again, and quickly left to meet with the Fates, but not before casting a quick glare at Yakko.

She muttered, "Note to self; punish Yakko _after_ the meeting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay when I said I'm planning on doing a Hercules AU fanfic starring Yakko and Max. Originally, the chapter was going to be shorter where I would put the prophecy and the kidnapping of Maxcules in the next chapter, but since this was supposed to be a prologue, these two elements HAVE to be in the first chapter.... but THEN I decided that nope, I'm going to put them in the next chapter in the end. The next chapter will come out pretty soon (give it about two days max... no pun intended).
> 
> Up next... Norita asks the Fates about her future.


	2. Evil Woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Norita seeks out the Fates to discuss about the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: There is a scene of physical abuse.

_“_ _So prepare for the coup of the century! Be prepared for the murkiest scam!” -_ Be Prepared, The Lion King

"Louie! Dewey! Hold Penelope Pussycat's thread of life good and tight now!"

Two young ducks, one dressed in a blue cloak and another dressed in a green cloak, appeared to be having a tug of war with a long and thin thread. Not far from the two was another young duck dressed in a red cloak. He held a pair of large, black scissors in front of him. He approached the two ducks.

"Rule #4 in the Junior Fates Guidebook; the tighter you pull a mortal's thread of life, the more pain they will feel upon dying."

"Huey, just cut the thread and get it over with already!" The duck in blue yelled at the duck in red, Huey, before turning to the duck in green. "This is the fifth time we have to do this! How many lives does Penelope have left, Louie?"

"Four, Dewey," The duck in green, Louie, replied nonchalantly. "And if I'm right about this, she doesn't reincarnate again until somewhere in the early 14th century."

Huey snapped the scissors shut, and cut the thread. The screams of a cat can be heard throughout Norita’s office.

“Incoming!” Dewey cried out as the soul of black female cat, with a white stripe down her back, entered, and joined the five billion poor, unfortunate souls at the river of dead.

Norita entered just as the soul was leaving her office. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot followed her from behind. She turned her attention to the Fates, and grinned massively. “Boys, I’m awfully sorry that I’m-“

“Late!” The Fates cut her off.

“We knew you would be.” Huey told her.

“We know _everything!_ ” Dewey piped in.

“Past.”

“Present.”

Louie joined in, “And future.” He leaned toward Wakko and whispered. “This just in, indoor plumbing’s gonna be big.”

Wakko gasped in awe. “Faboo.”

“Kids…” Norita sneered, still keeping that massive grin on her face. It was clear that despite looking like children, the Fates were still well-respected in all of Greece. She calmly explained to them, “Anyway, I was at this party, and I lost track of-“

“We know!” The Fates cut her off again.

“Yes, I _know,_ you know.” She was starting to get irritated by the minute.

She made her way toward a large, round table resting in the middle of her office. On top of the table was the map of Greece that was split into two parts. The part closest to her was filled with blue chess pieces that resembled a huge variety of monsters, all huddled up to form an army, and located just behind the small army was a blue chest piece that resembled Norita, placed on top of a huge skull. The part opposite of her was filled with golden chess pieces that resembled all the gods from Mt. Olympus, and located behind them was a golden chess piece that resembled Goof, placed on top of a small replica of Mt. Olympus, the mountain.

“So here’s the deal – Goof, aka. Mr. High and Mighty, Mr. ‘Hey, You, Get Off My Cloud’, Mr. Pretentious Little-“

“Ah, ah, ah, not in front of the kids.” This time, Yakko cut her off. He pointed at Dot who was at the window, petting the giant three-head dog, Cerebus, and Wakko eating a bone that came out of nowhere like a dog.

Norite glared at him, “Yakko, I _swear_ when this meeting is over-“

Yakko blew a kiss. “Goodnight everybody!”

Norita had to keep herself from losing her temper at Yakko, especially with the Fates being in the same room as her. She diverted her attention back to the Fates, “As I was saying, Goof has-“

“A bouncing, baby, brat named Maxcules!” The Fates cut her off yet again. “We know!”

She couldn’t keep it in anymore, and exploded out of frustration, letting the Fates have it. _“I KNOW, YOU KNOW!”_ She calmed down a little, gritting her teeth. “I know. I got it. I got the concept.”

She conjured up a small chess piece resembling a baby dog in a cradle, and set it on the map, and asked in an ice-cold tone, “Is the little brat going to mess up my plans to take over Mt. Olympus or what?"

For a brief moment, she saw Dewey's eyes gleaming with excitement, and he was about to speak up, but Huey stopped him, giving his brother a stern look. "Rule #13 in the Junior Fates Guidebook: no revealing the future to anyone."

Dewey pouted, lowering his head in defeat. It looked like he was trying to keep himself from crying. "I never get to do anything fun around here."

Great. She had asked for a meeting with the Fates to ask them about her future, and it turned out that they're _not_ allowed to do that? Well that was a waste of her time and resources. She was about to ask them to leave, but then saw Dewey crying silently. That duck in blue really wanted to tell her the future, but was denied the opportunity to do it.

She had an idea.

Norita got up, and saw the Warners playing cards on top of the table this time - well, it was only Dot and Yakko playing the cards whereas Wakko was eating them as if they were food. She let out a wicked smile. "Dot!"

Dot immediately stopped what she was doing and ran up to the tall woman, giving her a quick salute. "Yes, Boss Lady?"

She gestured towards Huey. "See if you can get Huey to… change his mind."

Dot knew exactly what she meant, so she quickly ran up to Huey with a huge smile on her face. Huey was taken aback by the female Warner's... lack of personal space - she was standing too close to him, and her red nose barely touched the end of his beak. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Tell us our future!" Dot cried out, fluttering her eyelashes.

Oh no. She was going to use her cuteness on him. Well, it's not going to work, he'll make sure of that. "Forget it, Dot. It's not going to work."

She increased her cuteness a little. "Please, tell us the future?"

"No."

"Pwetty pwease wif whipped cweam and a chewwy on top?" She kept on increasing her cuteness. Her eyes grew bigger and cuter by the second.

Dewey had stopped crying, and saw Dot pestering Huey. He knew instantly what she was doing – she was going to get Huey to change his mind with her cuteness, and it was starting to get to him. Huey quickly pulled himself together at the last minute, and tried to shield himself from Dot’s increased cuteness.

"The cuteness is getting stronger! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! I'm not changing my mind!"

This time, Dewey joined in with Dot, and both of them set their cuteness levels to maximum. "Pweasie-squeezie-weezie-weeze?"

This was enough to make Huey scream in agony. He can handle Dot using her cuteness on him, but Dewey? No. He can’t handle it. _"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! YOU GUYS WIN! JUST STOP WITH THE CUTENESS! IT'S TOO MUCH!"_

"I'm glad you can see things _my_ way, Huey," said Norita, satisfied with her work. She turned to Dewey, with confidence. “Now, about my future…”

Dewey couldn’t contain his excitement anymore. He had been waiting for that moment for so long, and now, he finally got the opportunity to do so. He hastily pushed Huey aside, “One future coming up!”

Everything went dark in the room, making it impossible for anyone to see clearly, aside from the opened windows. And then, they saw the starry night sky. There were six planets in the sky – Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. All of them were forming a straight line.

“This must be the future!” Dot pointed out the obvious.

“Neat magic show, Dewey!” Wakko cried out while eating a bag of popcorn that appeared out of nowhere. “What else can you do?”

Dewey turned to Huey, “Will you do the honors, brother of mine?”

“Will do, brother.” Huey coughed for a bit, and then began, “In fourteen years precisely, the planets will align ever so nicely…”

Norita groaned. “Ugh! Did it _have_ to be in rhyme?”

The vison changed to the aligned planets revealing the location to the Titans’ prison, and then to where the Titans break free and run amok the world once more. Dewey took over, still having that excited look.

“The time to act will be at hand. Unleash the Titans, your monstrous band…”

Norita smiled, this vision so far was more to her liking.

“Then the once-proud Goof will finally fall, and you, Norita, will rule all!”

Her smile grew bigger as she saw the vision change again, and she exploded with excitement, with the Warners quickly getting out of the way to avoid getting hit by her wayward flames. This was what she desired most; Goof defeated, the rest of the gods who lived on Mt. Olympus enslaved, and her, Norita, sitting on the throne in Mt. Olympus, towering over the world with the mortals worshipping her like a goddess… well you get the idea.

“This just in, Norita’s gone mad with power.” Yakko had the tendency to make a joke.

“Yeah, this is great and all, there is one little detail you should know about…” Louie’s voice brought Norita back to reality. Unlike his brothers, he didn’t bother to do any rhyming here.

“I’m sorry, what?” She asked the duck in green, her smile fell.

The vision changed again to Maxcules, all grown up and riding on a magnificent rooster. He was about to attack Norita with a sword in hand. “Should Maxcules fight,” Louie warned her. “You will fail.”

There was a bright flash for a moment, and before anyone could make process of what was happening, the Fate quickly disappear, leaving only a stunned Norita, and the Warners in the room. Yakko wasn’t an idiot when it comes to dealing with Norita’s… unprofessionalism when things don’t go her way. He knew _right_ away that Norita was going to explode any minute now, and she was going to lash out on him and his siblings since they were in the room with her - they were easy targets.

He turned to his siblings, and warned them in a low whisper. “We gotta go, sibs.”

Wakko and Dot exchanged worried looks, and nodded. Quietly, Yakko led them toward the grand doors where he opened them a little to let Wakko and Dot sneak out undetected. Just as Yakko was about to sneak out and join his siblings… it happened. He didn’t need to look behind him as he could feel the room getting hotter due to the fire on Norita getting bigger and more violent than usual.

All of a sudden, he felt a hand violently grabbing him by the arm – it burned.

Slowly, Yakko turned his head around, and saw Norita’s face being red with anger – she had that murderous look on her face. With her free hand, Norita slammed the doors shut.

“And just where do you think _you’re_ going, Yakko?”

Some time has passed by, and Norita led the two younger Warners into a dark room below the palace. Unlike her office, this room was very, very dark, with only skeletal pillars lining up neatly in two straight lines which lead to a blue fire resembling a pillar that gave the room a dim blue lighting. Dot didn’t like the atmosphere in the room – it was giving her the creeps. Wakko had taken notice of Dot’s discomfort, and pulled her into a hug as they continued following Norita.

A swarm of bats flew by above the younger Warners.

“Wakko, I’m scared.” Dot cried in a low whisper. For a moment, she could faintly hear the sound of chains moving a bit.

Wakko looked around, and noticed that something wasn’t right. “Where’s Yakko?” he asked Norita.

Norita kept a stone face, as if she didn’t care about the fact that one Warner was missing. “He’s fine, Wakko. He’s a bit tied up right now, which really doesn’t matter because I only needed the two of you for this assignment.”

“Our assignment?”

“I can assure you that this won’t take too long. As soon as you two get the job done, you can go back to being with your brother as usual.”

She slowly walked toward the blue fire with Wakko and Dot following her from behind. “I have a question for you two. How do you _kill_ a god?”

Dot answered, “You can’t because they’re immortal.”

“That is correct, Dot. All gods are immortal by nature.” Norita put her hand through the blue fire and pulled out a small vial of purple liquid. She instructed the two Warners, “First, you have to turn the little starlight mortal. Make him drink the whole thing, every last drop…”

Wakko and Dot bowed down and replied, “Yes, Boss Lady.”

She let out a malicious smile which was starting to scare the younger Warners. “… and then, my faithful servants, you will _kill_ him.”

Wakko pleaded, “But Boss Lady, the little baby-“

“ _SILENCE!”_ Both Warners held on to each other tightly, afraid of letting go, as they witness Norita blowing up again, almost giving the room a red lighting for a moment. She calmed down a bit, darkness returning to swallow the room whole. “I had a feeling this would happen, so I’ve taken some… _precautions_.”

To illustrate her point, Norita snapped her fingers, and all of a sudden, a bright blue light from above illuminated a spot in the dark abyss – right next to the blue fire. Wakko and Dot saw a thin figure being restrained by chains from above – suspended in mid-air. It looked like they had suffered a lot of painful torture earlier because they weren’t moving.

Wakko and Dot immediately recognize who the figure was, and gasped in horror, “Yakko!”

Yakko slowly lifted his head, and gave out a weak smile, “Hey sibs…”

“Bro, you looked like death.” Despite the unfortunate circumstances, Wakko couldn’t help but make a joke about it.

“Speaking of death…” Norita spoke again, a voice in tranquil fury. “Either you two kill Maxcules or…”

She snapped her fingers again, and the two younger Warners found themselves being forced to watch Yakko getting brutally shocked by the very chains that held him captive. Yakko screamed in agony from the excruciating pain, and tried in vain the fight it off.

“… I kill Yakko. Which one would you choose?”

Wakko and Dot looked at each other, and then at Yakko who is still screaming in pain from the electrocution. On the one hand, they don’t want to kill Maxcules who was only a baby at the time. But on the other hand, they don’t want their older brother to die because they dared question Norita’s authority. Neither of them are sure that Yakko would fight off the pain any longer. Both of them sigh, admitting defeat.

“You win, we’ll kill the baby,” Dot said to Norita, tears beginning to come out from her eyes. “Please… stop hurting Yakko.”

Satisfied with the answer, Norita snapped her fingers again, and the electrocution stopped. The chains that held Yakko captive quickly disappear, causing Yakko to collapse on to the floor. Wakko and Dot immediately went to Yakko’s side to see if he’s still alive.

“Sibs…” Yep, Yakko’s alive.

Norita stood behind the Warners, hands behind her back and maintaining a cold face, as if she didn’t feel any remorse for torturing a child in order for his younger sibling to accept the assignment.

“You two know the drill,” She tossed the vial at Dot who caught it. “Have him drink the entire potion that will turn him mortal, and then kill him. You get all of this?”

Both Wakko and Dot sighed, knowing that they have no other choice. “Yes, Boss Lady.”

“But to make _doubly_ sure you two do not fail,” Norita pulled out a box with a dagger running through a heart-shaped lock.

“Bring back his _heart_ in this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... as much as I wanted to, I kinda have to put the part where Maxcules gets kidnapped in the next chapter (or better yet, give it its own chapter) because this one's starting to get too long, plus the way I ended this chapter makes a great cliffhanger or something. That and I realized that it has slowly became a Warners and Norita centric chapter, so yeah... the kidnapping part's gotta go in the next chapter. Also, gotta love the Snow White reference.
> 
> Up next... Wakko and Dot kidnap Maxcules.


	3. (Isn't Something) Missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wakko and Dot attempt to kill Maxcules with unexpected results.

__

_“Isn't something missing? Isn't someone missing me?” -_ Missing, Evanescenece

It was nighttime at Mt. Olympus as all the gods have already left Goof’s palace, and retreated to their homes for the night – they were exhausted from all that partying. Yes, even gods as powerful as Goof needed their beauty rest if they want to continue watching over the world and protect it from the forces of evil.

Maxcules, and Chicken Boo were sound asleep in the nursery, sharing a crib together. Because they were asleep, they were not aware of Wakko and Dot quietly sneaking inside the nursery as if it was one of the easiest things to do. They’d make sure to not trip over anything unless they want to attract attention, such as toys, treasure chests, and child-proof weapons. They stopped at the crib where they saw Maxcules and Chicken Boo for the first time with their very own eyes.

“I hate to say it, but Maxcules is such a cute baby.” Dot whispered as she smiled.

Wakko frowned, obviously feeling guilty at what he and Dot were about to do to Maxcules. “Yeah… it really sucks that we have to kill him.”

“Well it’s either that or risk having our big brother killed.” Dot argued, keeping her voice low. “What other choice do we have?”

Taking another look at the sleeping Maxcules, Wakko sadly sighed - they had a mission to complete. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Wakko slowly reached out, trying to grab the sleeping Maxcules as gently and quietly as possible, with Dot carefully eying him as she felt her heart beating. Wakko found himself sweating profoundly from the pressure as he gently grabbed the sleeping baby. But before he could slowly lift Maxcules off the crib, Chicken Boo’s eyes went wide open.

Chicken Boo looked at Wakko and Dot who found themselves being frozen in their spots, unable to move out of fear, and then looked at Maxcules who was being held by Wakko. He put two and two together.

He made the first move.

Goof and Sylvia were sound asleep peacefully in their bed when all of a sudden, they were awoken by a strained cry and the sound of glass breaking.

“Goof, I don’t like the idea of leaving Maxcules alone in the nursery.” Sylvia, half-awake, expressed her concern for Maxcules – he had come into the world for less than a day for crying out loud!

Goof reassured his wife. “Don’t worry, he’s got Chicken Boo with him. I bet they’re just playing around.”

But then, they heard someone shouting, “Boss Lady didn’t tell us about having to deal with the damn chicken!”, and a second voice shouting back, “Just grab the baby and run!”

Then it hit them. Maxcules and Chicken Boo weren’t playing around late at night. Maxcules was actually in trouble, and Chicken Boo was trying to protect him!

Panicking, they jumped out of bed and headed toward the nursery, hoping that Chicken Boo had successfully scared off the kidnappers by the time they get there. Millions of questions began forming in their heads. What horrendous things did they do to the mortals to the point that kidnapping their innocent baby would be justified? What do they want with him? Who was behind the kidnapping? Would Chicken Boo be able to protect Maxcules? Why didn’t they have Maxcules and Chicken Boo sleep in the same room as them in the first place?

By the time they got to the nursery, it was too late.

The crib was knocked over, and they heard a thumping noise coming from one of the smaller treasure chests – no doubt that the kidnappers have decided to lock Chicken Boo in there. Goof and Sylvia searched through the nursery, but baby Maxcules was nowhere to be found. Sylvia fell to her knees next to Maxcules’ empty crib, sobbing uncontrollably.

Goof on the other hand felt anger. How dare those foolish kidnappers come into his palace, lock Chicken Boo in a small chest, kidnap his Maxcules and make his beloved Sylvia cry? He clenched his fists, and let out a loud cry in agony. Tying with Goof’s negative emotions, the once peaceful night sky had taken a dark turn for the worse. It light up with lightning, and the booming thunder made all the clouds and Mt. Olympus shake like an earthquake.

_“NO!”_

“Now we’ve done it!” Wakko panicked as he and Dot were flying away from Mt. Olympus on a flying chariot being pulled by a black Pegasus. He had a seemingly oblivious Maxcules in his arms whereas Dot was doing all the driving. “Goof’s gonna kill us for sure!”

“We’re almost there, Wakko!” Dot exclaimed as the chariot took them farther away from Mt. Olympus and closer to the earth. “Just hang on!”

Unfortunately, a random lightning nearly hit the chariot, causing them to collide into a nearby forest of dead branches. They crash-landed onto the ground, chariot in pieces, their black Pegasus running off to who know where, and baby Maxcules crying uncontrollably.

Wakko tried to calm the crying Maxcules down so that he doesn’t attract any unwanted attention, but all of his efforts were in vain. He cried to Dot in a low voice, “Hurry, Dot! Let’s just kill the kid and get this over with!”

Reaching for her hammerspace, Dot pulled out the vial that Norita had given her – the one that would turn Maxcules into a mortal. Thinking quickly, she converted the vial into a baby bottle by replacing the cork with a baby bottle top, and shoved it into Maxcules’ mouth. The crying ceased and before they know it, Maxcules was drinking the potion. Wakko and Dot watched as the more Maxcules drink the potion, the silver-blue aura that shined around him began to slowly dim.

“Dot, he’s changing.” Wakko whispered, mesmerized by Maxcules slowly changing from a baby god to a baby mortal. “Can we do it now?”

Dot shook her head, a small patch of glow remained on Maxcules’ face. “Wakko, she told us to make him drink the whole potion. Every _last_ drop.”

And so they kept a close eye on the bottle as Maxcules continued to drink – the blue glow was almost gone. But just as Maxcules was about done drinking the whole thing…

“Who’s there?”

The voice caught Wakko and Dot off guard, causing Dot to carelessly yank the bottle off of Maxcules’s lips and throw it onto the ground which shattered into pieces which in turn caused Maxcules to cry again. Panicking, the duo hid behind a nearby rock, leaving Maxcules alone out in the open.

A black toon mouse came around from a corner, using a torch as his source of light. Maxcules continued to cry uncontrollably which immediately caught the toon mouse’s attention. He gasped as he saw the baby being left alone in the middle of the night. “Minnie, over here! Poor kid must’ve been abandoned!”

Minnie, another black toon mouse appeared from the corner, and looked at where the male mouse was pointing his torch. She too gasped when she saw Maxcules on the ground, crying uncontrollably. Motherly instincts immediately kicked in as she quickly ushered over to Maxcules, bending down and gently picking him up. “Oh, you poor thing. Don’t cry.” Minnie said as she managed to calm him down within seconds.

She turned to the male mouse, holding Maxcules’ head ever so carefully. “Mickey, for so many years, we’ve prayed to the gods to bless up with a child. Perhaps they’ve answered our prayers.”

“Perhaps they have,” Mickey replied, examining something wrapped around Maxcules’ neck. It was a golden medallion with a red sash. On one end, it had a carving of a cloud with lighting coming out of it, and on the other end was Maxcules’ name written on it. “Maxcules?”

Unbeknownst to Mickey and Minnie, Wakko and Dot had come to a silent agreement that now’s the perfect opportunity to kill Maxcules. With the mouse couple distracted, they slipped out of their hiding spot and shapeshifted into rattlesnakes. They slithered toward the mouse couple, and then, as they got closer to them, they made their first move. They leaped off the ground, and lunged toward Maxcules and the mouse couple, hissing menacingly. Minnie screamed in fear as she held onto Maxcules very tightly whereas Mickey stepped in front of them, ready to protect his wife and newly-adopted son from the rattlesnakes.

And then… Maxcules reached out to the rattlesnakes with a giggle, and easily grab hold of them. He smacked them around on the ground as if they were plush toys before tying the two rattlesnakes together in knots, and hurling them far off into the distance, never to been seen again for the night.

Mickey and Minnie stared at the giggling Maxcules with wide eyes and jaws dropped – this was no ordinary baby, that’s for sure. He has the strength of a hundred men. They quickly brushed it off as Minnie picked Maxcules up again. They both agreed that despite what happened that night, they would still love Maxcules, no matter what.

The rattlesnakes crash-landed at a large tree on top of a high mountain. Groaning in pain, they get themselves untangled and shapeshifted back to Wakko and Dot.

They knew that they have failed to kill Maxcules.

Wakko began to panic, “Boss Lady’s going to kill us when she finds out we didn’t kill Maxcules and bring her his heart!”

Dot barely paid any attention to him. Rather, she was more fixated at something. Not far from the cliff, Dot saw a small campsite consisted made up of roughly 15 tents. She saw someone coming out from the biggest tent of all – a tall human male with medium-length wavy brown hair and a twirling mustache, wearing a rich blue and gold toga underneath a blood red chlamys (a type of Ancient Greek cloak) and a golden circlet decorated with emeralds. He had a firm grip on a young and beautiful toon mink with white fur, and blonde hair and tail. The mink was dressed in rags and it looked it she had been crying for hours. In the male human’s hand was a whip.

Dot could tell that the young mink was desperately trying to get herself free from the male human’s tight grip, as he dragged her toward a large bonfire before settling on throwing her near it. With the mink lying on the ground, nearly exhausted from the struggle, the male human got his whip ready with the intention of hurting her.

This gave Dot the perfect opportunity to do something about the situation at hand.

She turned to Wakko, an evil gleam in her eyes matched and her fangs exposed as she let out a huge smile. She pulled out the box that Norita had given her from her hammerspace.

“Wakko, I think we’ve found ourselves a new _special_ friend.”

Goof had sent all the gods on a frantic search for Maxcules. They’ve search all throughout Greece, from the highest of mountains to the deepest of the oceans until Pete, toon god of war, finally managed to locate the baby.

“Your majesties, I have good news and bad news.” He informed Goof and Sylvia. “The good news is that Maxcules is safe and sound, and is being taken care of by a mortal couple.”

Goof and Sylvia heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing it. Maxcules was safe, that’s all they cared about. “And the kidnappers?” Goof asked.

“We’ve found a destroyed chariot near the forest of dead branches, so either they’ve perished from the crash or escaped with their lives. We couldn’t find the bodies.”

“Pete,” Sylvia had that nagging feeling in her gut – something was wrong. “What’s the bad news?”

The large toon cat sighed heavily – this was going to be painful for him to do. He sadly replied. “We found this near the crash…”

Reaching for his hammerspace, Pete pulled out broken glass pieces of what looked like a baby’s bottle. Goof noticed something dangling from the broken glass – a small drop of purple liquid. He instantly recognized it as the one type of potion that would turn a god into a mortal. How did it ever wind up in the hands of the kidnappers in the first place was a mystery to him, but he didn’t care about that. All he cared about right now is that they had forced his baby boy into drinking that potion.

He tried to fight back the tears coming out from his eyes. “My little Max is mortal now?”

Pete placed a hand on Goof’s shoulder, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry, but only gods are allowed to live on Mt. Olympus.”

Sylvia sobbed as she buried her face onto Goof’s chest. Goof did his best to stay calm about the whole thing by putting on a brave face, but even he couldn’t prevent himself from crying. Chicken Boo snuggled up to Goof’s feet as a way to offer him and Sylvia some emotional support. Even he was sadden by what had happened to Maxcules.

It was only until Goof had realized that there was a silver lining to the tragic situation. He had noticed that Maxcules had not drank the last drop of the potion after all – he still retained his godlike strength which would be more than enough to protect him while living among mortals.

Since that night, Goof and Sylvia watched from afar as their beloved son was raised by Mickey and Minnie, slowly but surely losing what little memories he had of his previous life as a god.

It was painful, but they knew it in their heart that Maxcules is in good hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we got the kidnapping of Maxcules out of the way, so here's hoping that I can get to the good parts of this AU very soon because boy, do I have a LOT of ideas for this AU. And yeah, this chapter is named after one of the Evanescence songs I used to listen when I was a teenager. It's called "Missing"
> 
> Also, fun fact: Pete was originally going to be a stand-in for Hades in this AU, but I've decided to give the role to Norita instead. At least Pete gets to be a god in this AU though, so that's a plus.
> 
> Up next... a day in the life of Maxcules.


	4. A Day In The Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maxcules tries to fit in with disastrous results during the annual festival.

__

_“They don’t know, they can’t see who we are. Fear is the enemy.”_ – All About Us, t.A.T.u

The next eleven years went by much quicker than Goof could hurl his thunderbolt at his enemies. True to their words, Mickey and Minnie have raised Maxcules as their own. Sure, he wasn’t biologically theirs, but at the end of the day, he was their son, and they loved him no matter the circumstances, like the one time Max lifted the house off the ground as if that was the easiest and most common thing to do – all of this just to get his ball that had rolled underneath the house. And that was when he was only a toddler!

They taught him the usual stuff every parent would teach their children, like learning how to walk and talk. Speaking of learning how to talk, Maxcules had had problems with trying to say his full name correctly, but then again, most children would have troubles saying a word that has more than one syllabus - his name was only three syllables long. He had managed to say “Max”, but that was about it – he even responded to it a lot more than Maxcules. So Mickey and Minnie decided to settle with referring to him as Max, he seemed to prefer it, actually.

Now, Max was 11 years old - all grown up compared to how he was when he was a baby, but still growing nevertheless. He was taller than most boys around his age, and he was very skinny, weighing no less than 140 pounds. One might assume that because of his thin frame, he wouldn’t be able to lift a tree, but Max still has his godlike strength.

It all happened one day when Max and his parents were heading to the agora (a central public space in Ancient Greek cities) not far from their small farmhouse, for the annual festival, hosted by King Plotz.

Max was pulling the cart at such a high speed with Mickey and Minnie, understandably, gripping onto the driver’s bench for their dear lives. Their small donkey was resting in the cart filled with handmade pottery, blankets, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

“Max, slow down!” Mickey shouted, though it only seemed to make Max run faster with an excited grin on his face – an external pair of teeth had grown since. The family reached the agora just in time, Max narrowly avoiding several people before skidding to a stop.

Mickey and Minnie got off the cart, both shaking from the experience. “Thanks for pulling the cart, son.” Mickey thanked Max.

“When Small One twisted his ankle, we thought for sure we wouldn’t make it to the festival on time.” Minnie added as she take a look at their donkey’s injured ankle.

Max shrugged as he helped his mother getting some of the pottery out of the cart, “No problem, pops.”

“Mickey! Minnie! I’m so glad you two could make to the festival!” A voice called to them from not far away. Approaching them was a short, stout human man with balding white hair, wearing a white and grey-blue toga underneath a blue chlamys, and a small, golden crown resting on top of his balding head. He had a smile on his face, but all that went away when he noticed Max hiding behind Minnie with a sheepish grin.

He frowned, “I see you brought your… freakish son here with you.”

Mickey got in front of Max, papa mode activated, “With all due respect, your highness, but Max is just a kid. I’m sure he doesn’t mean any harm.”

It was no secret that King Plotz _hated_ Max since the day Minnie took him to the agora for the first time when he was 3 – the kid haven’t meant to cause trouble, really, but it seemed to follow him around no matter what he does. It wasn’t Max’s fault that he had the strength of a hundred men. It wasn’t his fault that people often underestimate it, or were being rude about it.

“Well you _better_ make sure that he doesn’t cause any trouble,” King Plotz warned the toon mouse – both being in similar heights. “Especially _today_ of all days.”

If Mickey could be honest with himself, the sole reason King Plotz wanted to host the festival to begin with was just so he can make quick connections with a lot of rich and powerful clients attending it – all in the name of becoming richer and more powerful than he normally was as king of a small kingdom. He had taken notice of a large and tall toon rooster wearing the finest clothes and jewelleries in all of Greece, mingling with a small group of toon hens. “I’m guessing that this year is Lord Leghorn’s turn to get the ol’ Plotz charm?” he casually asked the king with a smirk.

“Don’t you start getting sassy with me,” King Plotz warned Mickey again, nose held up high in the air. “I _am_ the king here, y’know.”

Yeah, Mickey knew that. He also knew that King Plotz wasn’t exactly popular amongst his subjects. Very few actually liked him, and most only tolerated him because he is their king, and as such, he had the power to punish anyone who dared to defy him for even the smallest of reasons, like being born different for one.

“Hey, boss!” A big, fat, balding human guard ran up to King Plotz, he was catching his breath. “King Schlesinger of Argos has arrived.”

For a brief moment, Mickey could see dollar signs in King Plotz’s eyes – he had found his target for this year.

“That guy’s loaded with cash! Ralph, take me to him immediately!” he ordered Ralph before turning to Mickey, giving him the death glare. “I mean it, Mickey. One slip-up from your son, and he’s _history._ I need this deal to go through.”

Mickey, Minnie, and Max watched as King Plotz took off with Ralph – no doubt trying to come up with ways to gain the King Schlesinger’s favor.

“Now, Max,” Mickey began to speak to Max as he and Minnie are each carrying a handful of fruits and vegetables. “Your mother and I are going to set up our vendor, so feel free to explore the agora. Just promise me you’ll be on your best behavior, just for today?”

Max sighed. “Okay, pops. Just for you.”

“That’s my boy,” Mickey playfully ruffled Max’s head fur before strolling off with Minnie.

Now alone, Max figured that it would be best to take his dad’s advice into consideration and explore the agora - it was a beautiful day after all, perfect to hold a festival. He saw several people getting things set up for the festival, like setting up shops, and hanging up colorful banners on some of the buildings. They were in a happy mood. He steered clear from the adults, knowing fully well that they’re not too fond of him thanks to his godlike strength.

After a few minutes of looking around, Max heard the loud laughter of several kids not far away. It was a small group of three kids playing a game of frisbee – a young male rabbit with blue fur, a young male duck with green feathers, and a young male pig. They were around Max’s age. The pig threw the frisbee a bit too rough which missed the green duck and landed near Max’s feet instead.

“Nice going, Hamton!” He heard the green duck yelling at the pig, Hamton in a low voice. He seemed to have a lisp. “Now Destructo Dog’s probably going to ask us to join!”

“Sorry, Plucky.” He heard Hamton apologizing to the duck, Plucky.

He couldn’t help but feel hurt by Plucky’s comment about him. Even kids aren’t too fond of him because of his strength. Still, he had promised his dad that he would be on his best behavior for today.

He gently picked up the frisbee as the kids went from being excited to being horrified upon seeing him.

“Hey, Buster! Do you need an extra guy?” He politely asked the blue rabbit, Buster. He was hoping that this time, the kids would let him play with them.

Plucky and Hamton hastily pushed Buster up to the front, forcing him to come up with an excuse. Buster nervously scratched the back of his neck and explained as politely as he could, “Gee, I’m sorry, Max. We’ve already got, uh, five! And we like to keep it an even number.”

Max just sighed. He knew that was a lie – there were only three kids playing, and the last time he checked, five was not an even number. So he gave the frisbee to Buster who ran off with Plucky and Hamton.

“What a freak.” He heard Plucky talking to Hamton and Buster, obviously badmouthing him behind his back. “Can’t have him hanging around with us beautiful kids.”

Dejected, Max sat down at the nearby well to try to collect his thoughts. He had tried, really tried to fit in, but it’s never enough for the small kingdom. No adult wanted to waste their time and effort on him (some teachers had tried to purposely fail him at school), and no kid wanted to play with him (they were afraid that his godlike strength would destroy their toys). Other than his loving parents, he was truly alone in the world.

He was completely lost in his thoughts when all of a sudden, he saw the same frisbee fly over his head. Maybe Buster had changed his mind after all.

He chased after it. “I got it!”

He grabbed the frisbee before it could hit the main gateway nearby, but before he knew it, he found himself hitting one of its two giant pillars instead – Hamton must’ve thrown the frisbee a bit too rough again. The pillar he had hit began to move and making cracking noises - he knew he had hit it too hard. He tried to push the pillar back in its place, but ended up making things worse. Holding a firm grip on the pillar, he carelessly wrecked a nearby building whereas what’s left of the gateway came crashing down, and before he knew it, he inadvertently caused a domino effect.

He watched in horror, pillar still in hand, as what’s left of the gateway knocked a line of pillars down like dominos, the last of them then landed on a cart full of bricks, which in turn caused all the bricks to fly up into the air and come raining down the agora like hail. He saw the townspeople scurrying across the area, trying to avoid getting hit by falling bricks that destroyed many buildings, vendors, potteries, and so much more. The last of the bricks hit the golden statue of King Plotz in the center of the agora, knocking its head off.

A large crowd was staring at the ruined agora in horror, and shot Max dirty looks. The festival hasn’t even officially stared and already, Max had managed to ruin it for everyone. He could even the concerned looks from his parents.

Max carefully place the pillar down and picked up the frisbee just as Buster approached him with an angry look. He yanked the frisbee out of Max’s hands, and hissed, “Nice catch… _freak._ ”

Mickey and Minnie were quick to rush to his side.

“Max, what happened?” Mickey asked him, one hand resting on his shoulder.

“What is going on out here?! _”_

Mickey saw a very angry King Plotz approaching the trio, with Ralph following him. Trailing from behind was an overweight human male dressed in the finest of clothes and jewelleries – he must be King Schlesinger that Ralph was talking about earlier. He had a look of disapproval when he saw the damage outside. King Schlesinger turned to King Plotz and flatly told him, “Yeah, I don’t think this is going to work out in the long run.”

King Plotz was taken aback by this. “W-what do you mean?”

“I’ll admit that you have a very nice kingdom,” King Schlesinger explained as he get on his golden chariot. “But it seemed that you have problems keeping things under control, like today for instance.”

And with that, King Schlesinger rode off, leaving a stunned King Plotz alone with the destroyed agora, and an angry crowd to deal with. He quickly diverted his attention to Mickey who went into papa mode again by getting in front of a scared Max. His face was turning red from all that anger he was feeling right now. “This is the _last_ straw, Mickey!”

The angry crowd seemed to share the same feelings King Plotz had regarding Max.

”That boy is a menace!”

“He’s too dangerous to be around normal people!”

“Everything was fine before you took him in!”

“It’s bad enough we had to endure three freaks like him before! We don’t need another one!”

Max couldn’t look at the angry crowd in the eyes as they continued to throw hurtful insults at him. Right now, he wanted to world to open up and swallow him whole, taking him far away from all of this. Minnie pulled Max into a tight hug while Mickey tried his best to calm the crowd down. “Look, fellas, he didn’t mean any harm. It’s just that he can’t control his strength.”

This wasn’t enough for King Plotz. “Didn’t I warn you that one slip-up from your son and he’s history, Mickey? Well, I hereby _banish_ him from my kingdom forever!”

Max couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Banished? Forever? Where would he go? How will he survive on his own? And what’s worse is that the crowd actually _agreed_ with King Plotz.

King Plotz turned to Max, still keeping that glare, as if he didn’t feel bad about banishing a child for something that wasn’t his fault. “I’ll give you the rest of day to say your goodbyes, but I’d expect you to be out of here by nightfall. You got that?”

Max sighed, “Yes, sir.”

“Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page here.” And with that, King Plotz turned away, leaving Max all alone in the destroyed agora with his grieving parents.

After what felt like forever, Mickey, Minnie, and Max made the trip back home to figure out what to do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't joined the "Let's go kill Plotz" bandwagon before, now's the perfect time to do so. I had fun writing this one.
> 
> Up next... Maxcules will find his way, he can go the distance.


End file.
